YOUR ANGEL
Captivating, dreamy, cinematic, atmospheric, magical, grandiose. Those are some of the words that come to mind when I listen to YOUR ANGEL’s new single. This is the first time I’m featuring her on my blog and I couldn’t ask for a better artist and record. The more the song progresses, the more it gets better and bigger. The 80s influence clearly takes the single to another world. YOUR ANGEL is an artist to watch and “Misbehave” is a must listen.
Photo credit: Christina Bryson
Introduce yourself - what's your story?
I was born in Texas but raised in Santa Fe, New Mexico. I have been playing music and writing songs since I was a kid. Obviously, there isn’t much of a music scene in Santa Fe, so I would post videos on facebook and play my songs on the sidewalk outside of Starbucks. At 18 I moved to a suburb outside of Los Angeles to go to college at Calarts. I dropped out after 2.5 years and through mutual friends ended up being asked to play in indie rock bands Current Joys and Surf Curse. I spent 3.5 years touring with them while making my first album. Once I finished my record in 2019, I quit the bands to pursue YOUR ANGEL full time!
You started off as a member of two indie rock bands - what did these experiences teach you as an artist and performer?
I truly learned everything I know about pursuing music as a career by playing in those bands. I’m so grateful that opportunity presented itself when it did. I had just dropped out of college and was really struggling with my mental health. I was so lost. I had known since I was a kid that I wanted to pursue music, but I didn’t know which direction to even look into to begin to do that. I grew up so far outside of the industry that I didn’t even know what the first step would be. I played the first shows I had EVER played in Current Joys. I didn’t even know the basics of playing a show let alone going on tour. I learned how hard you have to grind to make a name for yourself and learned the ins and outs and less glamorous parts of touring for a living (which is extremely valuable!)
What gave you the confidence to pursue your solo career?
I’m not totally sure. This has just always been my plan since I was a kid. There was never a plan B. I wouldn’t say that I’ve always been at my peak confidence, but I definitely always knew that this is what I was meant to do so that’s just what I did.
"Misbehave" is your first single of 2023. What made you want to pick "Misbehave" as the first single of the year?
"Misbehave" is one of the only truly happy songs that I have written. It’s a proper love song and is very pure, so I thought it would be a nice song to start off the year with before I start being a bummer again (laughs).
What's the story behind "Misbehave"?
I wrote "Misbehave" right when I met my now boyfriend of 3 years. Meeting him was so different then anything I had ever experienced before. I felt like I had known him my whole life already. I felt so safe around him which is very rare for me. I am a very logical person and very to myself. I'm not one to jump into relationships, but with him I wanted to move super fast. And we did! I wrote the song about that feeling. Just wanting to throw all your normal boundaries out the window because you met someone really special and important.
Could you describe the songwriting/production process for this single? Who helped you create it?
I wrote and produced this song in deep quarantine. I wrote and produced it alone and then a few months later my good friends Nick Noneman and Stephanie D’Arcy did production on it as well!
What's your favorite lyric on "Misbehave"?
I think my favorite lyric is “I’m not getting older, send me to the other side," just because for me it’s so representative of how I felt in quarantine. I was 23 when Covid started and it felt like years were flying by and I was being robbed of my 20s. I didn’t feel like I was getting older and it felt unfair!
What can you tell us about the artwork?
Madeline Leary took the picture. We based the photoshoot primarily off of 90’s editorial photography. The song feels super playful and very feminine so we felt that was the perfect vibe to try and capture.
What are your thoughts on today's music industry? If you could change one thing, what would it be?
Oh god, I don’t even know where to start. I guess overall, I feel like the power has somewhat been put back in the artists hands with the power of the internet but in the same breath, I feel like people blow up so quick and then go away just as quickly. It has created this weird scenario where you can have millions of monthly listeners but not be able to sell out a 100-cap room. People can know your song but not care about you or even know who you are. Things are always changing so quickly that it feels like the industry can’t really keep up. They’re trying to sign what’s trending and when they can’t follow that moment up, they just drop the artist. It feels super chaotic right now. The music industry is not in the business of developing artists anymore which I think is a shame. I guess that’s what I would change.
How's it like to be a woman in the music industry? What message do you want to give to women?
Like any woman working in this industry, I have of course had countless experiences with not being taken seriously or believed in. Especially when it comes to producing my own music, and that’s what my biggest piece of advice to women artists would be. Learn to produce!!! Having the power to craft your sound and the world it lives in will be your superpower. It will allow you to have a unique voice in a very oversaturated industry. It will allow you to have full control over your voice without anyone else trying to mold you into what they think you should be. I think it is an amazing time to be a woman in music. There are a lot of powerful women artists spearheading this industry right now, but we need more female producers/managers/A&Rs etc!
What advice would you give to artists out there?
Hunger always wins! Other people’s success does not take away from your own. Like every industry, there is nepotism and unfair advantages, but if you use your disadvantages as an excuse for your lack of success you will never go anywhere. Don’t be your own worst enemy. Keep your eyes on your own path. If you are a good person and you work hard, people will want to help you.
What biggest life lessons have you learned so far?
No one is ever going to fall down out of the sky and save you or put you on or whatever. If you want something or need something, chances are you gotta make it happen for yourself.
In your opinion, what would make the world a better place?
I think if people were more willing to humanize each other and listen. People are so chronically online. Things have gotten so divisive on the internet. In a lot of ways I understand, because there is so much hate and bigotry in this world and it makes me angry too, but when it’s all unraveling on a screen in front of you, humanity is totally stripped from the conversation. Everything gets so exasperated and I think it’s counterproductive.
What are your goals for 2023?
My biggest goals for 2023 would be to go on tour, to put out an album, and to just generally try and reach more people with my music!
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